Evolution of reproductive seasonality in bears

• Published in: Mammal review Vol. 37; no. 1; pp. 21 - 53
• Main Authors: SPADY, THOMAS J, LINDBURG, DONALD G, DURRANT, BARBARA S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2007; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Animal reproduction; bear; Bears; climate change; climatic change; embryonic diapause; Environmental conditions; Evolution; Evolutionary biology; panda; phylogeny; pseudopregnancy; Seasons; Ursidae; ursids; Zoology
• ISSN: 0305-1838; 1365-2907
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2907.2007.00096.x

1. Of the eight species of Ursidae, six are currently at risk of extinction and the remainder face significant risks to their future survival. One of the greatest threats to bears is human-imposed environmental alteration (e.g. global warming, chemical pollutants, deforestation). An examination of the reproductive biology and phylogeny of the Ursidae reveals reproductive seasonality as a probable adaptation to adverse environmental conditions. 2. Seven of the eight extant species exhibit distinct mating and birth seasons, with the most ancient species evolving facultative seasonality as an adaptation to the increasingly seasonal climate of the Pliocene. The remainder of the extant species evolved during the Pleistocene glaciations, under conditions of severe seasonal food restriction. Under these conditions, an obligate mode of seasonality emerged and persists to the present. 3. Knowledge of the natural history of seasonal reproduction in the ursids and how it evolved in response to global climatic change provides a context for understanding the ramifications of current environmental change on the reproduction of these important species.